argali

[ahr-guh-lee]

noun, plural ar·ga·li.

a wild sheep, Ovis ammon, of Asia, having long, curved horns that typically form an open, outwardly extended spiral: rare or endangered.

Also argal.

Origin of argali

1770–80; < Mongolian: female mountain sheep

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for argali

Historical Examples of argali

The bows that are chiefly prized, are made of the argali's horn, flat pieces of which are cemented together with glue.
Travels in North America, From Modern Writers
William Bingley
Argali, r′ga-li, n. the great wild sheep of Siberia and Central Asia.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)
Various
There are several local races of argali, among which O. ammon hodgsoni of Ladak and Tibet is one of the best known.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5
Various
The Argali ranges over the steppes, or inland plains of Central Asia, northward and eastward to the ocean.
Sheep, Swine, and Poultry
Robert Jennings
Indeed, to say that our common sheep sprung from the argali seems a very absurd theory.
The Boy Hunters
Captain Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for argali

argali

argal

noun plural -gali or -gals

a wild sheep, Ovis ammon, inhabiting semidesert regions in central Asia: family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla. It is the largest of the sheep, having massive horns in the male, which may almost form a circle

Word Origin for argali

C18: from Mongolian

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012